The door swung open, and Fu Jiu stepped inside. He found four people in the room: three standing guard, while only one youth sat leaning against the window. The young man had delicate features and bore a noticeable resemblance to Fu Shanyue.
The youth frowned upon seeing him. "You chose this hour to come? It isn't safe."
Fu Jiu dropped to his knees. "Young Master Ji, the deed is done."
Young Master Ji froze, then sprang to his feet, his voice pitching higher. "What did you say?"
Fu Jiu drew the wooden statue from his storage ring and set it right in the center of the room.
Young Master Ji rushed over to inspect it, barking, "Bring lamps! Light more of them!"
One lamp after another flared to life. Young Master Ji fixed his gaze on the wooden statue, unable to look away. "Walk me through everything that happened."
Fu Jiu complied.
Hearing the final details, Young Master Ji cut him off. "Wait a moment. You didn't witness my brother turn into a wooden statue with your own eyes?"
"...No, but the young master fled too fast at the time." A jolt of panic seized Fu Jiu's heart as well. "Yet this statue's features are identical to his in every detail, down to his clothes and ring..."
"Douse the lamps!" Young Master Ji refused to hear his excuses, snapping to his men, "Leave here at once!"
A guard went straight to the window and clapped twice. The neighbors were their people too; those two claps were the signal for them to come out immediately.
Yet silence followed the clapping.
Not a sound came from the neighboring house, nor was there a single silhouette.
Young Master Ji said decisively, "Move!"
But the moment they pulled the door open, six or seven figures were already standing in the dark—dead silent, their eyes gleaming with cold malice.
They were all Fu Shanyue's subordinates.
"It's so late, Second Brother. Where are you off to?" a voice called from behind them.
Young Master Ji whipped around, stunned to find Fu Shanyue sitting by the window—in the exact spot he had just occupied, in the very same posture—speaking in an easy, familiar tone: "Long time no see. Care to catch up?"
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a pale glow across the left half of Fu Shanyue's face while leaving the right half shrouded in pitch blackness.
At the sight of him, Fu Jiu's face turned just as pale.
Fu Shanyue shifted his gaze to him and smiled faintly. "Fu Jiu, you did your job well."
The guards behind Young Master Ji instantly glared daggers at Fu Jiu.
Fu Jiu dropped to his knees with a thud. "Young Master, I..."
Before he could finish, a thin line of blood appeared across his throat.
Only when Fu Jiu's corpse slumped slowly to the floor did Fu Shanyue flick the blood from his fingertips. He couldn't be bothered to listen to a traitor's sob story.
"A decent plot; I nearly fell for it." Fu Shanyue turned to Young Master Ji, pinching his fingers to indicate a tiny gap. "When you hatched this plan, did Royal Father know?"
His irises turned crimson little by little. Young Master Ji's fingertips were trembling. "Even if I die, Royal Father will never pass his seat to you!"
"Why don't we wait and see?" Fu Shanyue chuckled. "Oh, right. You won't live to see it."
Young Master Ji's eyes reddened. "I was wrong! We're brothers from the same mother! For Mother's sake... Uncle Da!"
His hands slammed abruptly into the backs of the guards beside him, shoving them toward Fu Shanyue while flinging an object to the floor. Then he burst out through the doorway.
Barely scrambling to his feet after hitting the ground outside, he heard a tremendous blast behind him as a shockwave tore through the air.
The residence had exploded.
This was a little contingency he had prepared; he hadn't expected it to come in handy so soon.
Young Master Ji was hurled several zhang by the blast wave, and Fu Shanyue's men were also knocked back, unable to close in immediately. Clearly, this charge of explosives had been packed heavy.
He stood up, dusted off his trousers, and looked back at the shattered, blasted ruins.
Suddenly, a figure plummeted from above, slamming down beside him and throwing up scorched earth.
Young Master Ji jumped in fright. Looking closely, he saw it was Fu Shanyue's wooden statue.
The statue had caught fire and was burning merrily, yet a pair of dead-fish eyes glared right at Young Master Ji, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine.
A rush of wind came from behind again. Holding his breath and bracing himself, he turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. "Uncle Da, you're here!"
***
"This... this is just absurd, isn't it?" He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what stood before him.
He was standing in Panlong City's South Gate Square.
This broad square he had traversed dozens of times had undergone a sudden change today: above the massive fountain pool, right beside the first bridge, an extra tree had suddenly appeared.
Strictly speaking, a sapling just taller than a man.
He recalled that during his last dream, this spot had been a permanent stall selling yellow millet cakes and soy milk. The middle-aged woman running it had complimented him on his good looks, always enthusiastically slicing him an extra half-piece, stubbornly trying to introduce him to her daughter.
Yet now, a tree stood here.
South Gate Square had plenty of trees offering cool shade in the summer. But what drew He Lingchuan's intense attention was that this tree looked exceedingly familiar.
Those leaves, those branches, those sparse, tender aerial roots resembling whiskers...
Wasn't this a Juluo tree?!
Though pitifully small compared to the Jeweled Tree King, a Juluo tree was a Juluo tree.
The divine bone necklace had consumed the spirit seed he provided, and He Lingchuan had assumed the seed's power would be absorbed by the Dafang Pot, just like the treasures it had swallowed before.
Who would have guessed the spirit seed was an exception? Not only was it not consumed, it had been planted right inside Panlong City.
He had only stayed away for a few days, yet the seed had already grown into a sapling—truly a defiance of natural laws.
Then again, considering the tree guards the Jeweled Tree King deployed across the kingdom, those too had grown from spirit seeds in mere days.
He Lingchuan had appeared right here upon entering Panlong City, evidently because the dreamscape wanted him to see this tree the moment he arrived.
The Dafang Pot never did anything without purpose.
Two children were playing ball beneath the tree. He Lingchuan walked over and asked them, "When was this tree planted?"
The children looked at him and shook their heads, completely blank.
He Lingchuan had no choice but to head to a nearby shop and ask the middle-aged shopkeeper selling sundries, "Who planted that tree?"
"What?"
"That sapling over there." He Lingchuan pointed it out to him. "When was it planted?"
"Ah... no idea." The shopkeeper looked baffled. "Hasn't it always been there?"
"How long is 'always'?" There had to be some timeframe; it couldn't have been there since the dawn of time.
The man racked his brains, then shook his head. "Who could remember that? It's just a tree." There were so many trees in the square; was he supposed to remember the age of every single one, or who planted them? What kind of joke was this?
With his inquiries bearing no fruit, He Lingchuan returned to the sapling and gave it a pat.
It looked no different from an ordinary young tree; it was hard to imagine it growing into a towering, magnificent colossus like the Jeweled Tree King. Then again, could a spirit seed really grow into a tree guard inside the Panlong dreamscape?
Recalling the properties of Juluo trees, he vaguely understood why the Dafang Pot had been able to transplant the spirit seed:
Juluo trees had always possessed the nature of adapting to the Azure Void.
The heart-protecting mirror called Panlong City a city of the undead; so for a Juluo tree to grow in a city of the undead didn't seem out of place, did it?
Of course, planting it here might carry some deeper meaning, but He Lingchuan had nowhere to ask about that.
He could only pat its trunk. "Good luck to you."
In Panlong City, what kind of nutrients would a Juluo tree need to absorb in order to grow?
Counting the days, it seemed today was his turn to defend Arena No. 7.
If he didn't go soon, he would lose his title as champion.
Passing by Yunling Island—the storefront he had rented out—he saw the chubby shopkeeper, Bai Guo, discussing business outside the door. Looking up, Bai Guo's eyes lit up at the sight of He Lingchuan, and he trotted over in a hurry. "Brother He, you're finally here!"
Watching his agile steps, which completely contradicted his bulky frame, He Lingchuan immediately felt the urge to leave. "I'm not buying anything."
This unscrupulous merchant was always trying to push magic artifacts on him to win back the rent. He Lingchuan had actually been sweet-talked into buying something twice, only to smack his forehead later—what the hell did he need this junk for? As if he could actually use them!
"Aiya, I don't have any good wares today. The border with the Xiji Kingdom is acting up again, and several shipments got held up and couldn't get through... Those bastards will get their retribution sooner or later." Bai Guo chuckled dryly. "Brother He, I just have a matter to discuss with you."
For this fellow to actually claim he had no good wares meant this had to be serious business. He Lingchuan turned to leave. "I have things to do too. Another day."
Bai Guo shoved an exquisite little bamboo cylinder into his hand. "Hold on, please!"
He Lingchuan glanced down—chewing tobacco.
And it was chewing tobacco produced in the Beijia Kingdom. By now, he could accurately distinguish tobacco brands; this likely hailed from the Treasure Tree Demon Kingdom!
Bai Guo seized the chance to drag him into the shop.
"I have a favor to ask of you!" There was no one in the back parlor today, so Bai Guo launched right in. "Business hasn't been great lately..."
He Lingchuan brushed his sleeve aside. "Lowering the rent is off the table."
"No, no." Bai Guo's smile froze. "I wanted to ask you, uh, could we, uh..."
"Uh?" It was rare to see this slick merchant stammer; this really was a big deal.
Bai Guo sighed and laid it out plainly: "I want to terminate the lease. I'm giving you notice in advance."
He Lingchuan asked in surprise, "From what I've seen, business is booming here. People coming and going, often packed to the brim." It was already generous not to raise the rent. Besides, shops on Wanglin Avenue weren't available whenever someone felt like renting one; anyone wanting to open a store here had to wait in line.
"Ah, truth be told, I received news—great news." Bai Guo sighed at first, but then the corners of his mouth couldn't help curling upward. "We might be able to—we might be able to return to our home country!"
"Hm?" He Lingchuan didn't catch on for a moment. "Return home?"
Return to which country?
"Xiluo!" Bai Guo's face grew even rounder when he smiled. "Return to our homeland!"
He Lingchuan's mind buzzed. Wasn't the Panlong Wasteland an enclave that had long since been cut off from its mother country?
"What do you mean?"
"It's like this: I have a reliable source saying the monarch is considering relocating everyone in the Panlong Wasteland back!" Hearing voices from the front hall, Bai Guo hurried to lower his voice. "Once a resettlement decree comes down, we'll be able to return home!"
"That doesn't sound right," He Lingchuan remarked, feeling no joy whatsoever. "Where would the route back come from?" An enclave was called an enclave precisely because it was blocked on all sides.
"There is, there is," Bai Guo said. "Word is that the Baling Kingdom will temporarily open the Jinxi Corridor to let us relocate the entire population back."
He Lingchuan chuckled mirthlessly. "You'd actually take the Baling Kingdom at their word?"
"This matter seems highly credible and stands a great chance of succeeding," Bai Guo said with a beaming smile. "I'll personally compensate you with three extra months' rent and then go cancel the lease with the authorities. All you have to do is agree. What do you say?"
"And if I don't agree?"
"If you don't agree, once the resettlement decree comes down, everyone in the city will have to leave sooner or later anyway. When that happens, you won't be able to collect rent either."
Chapter 406